Bobby Heck, who helped rebuild the Milwaukee Brewers' farm system into one of the best in baseball, has been hired by the Astros to help turn around their hobbled minor league system as the club's new director of amateur scouting.

Heck spent the previous nine seasons as the Eastern scouting supervisor for the Brewers and has 17 seasons of scouting experience.

He will be in charge of trying to rebuild an Astros minor league system considered one of the worst in baseball.

Astros general manager Ed Wade said the hiring of Heck is an important steppingstone for the organization.

"We're very excited to have Bobby on board," Wade said. "When we started this process, a lot of people had some really good names to throw our way. He came as advertised. He's very organized and has a reputation as a good evaluator. He's a perfect guy for us in an area that's critical to any organization."

Heck fills the role held previously by Paul Ricciarini, the team's former senior director of player personnel and scouting, who was reassigned within the organization at the end of the regular season.

"Obviously, I am looking forward to working with a new front-office team with Ed, Ricky (Bennett, assistant general manager/director of player development) and Dave (Gottfried, assistant general manager/baseball operations)," Heck said.

"Throughout the interview process, I felt very comfortable with everyone. With the four of us working day-to-day, we can get this thing moving in the right direction."

Baseball America ranked the Astros' minor-league system 22nd prior to the 2007 season after placing it as high as third in 2002. The Brewers have gone from 26th in 2002 to first in 2004 and were seventh heading into this year.

Heck's primary responsibilities with the Brewers focused on the Eastern portion of the United States, but he also scouted in Latin America for both free-agent and professional players as well as the minor leagues, major leagues, instructional league, and the Arizona Fall League.

He also had national scouting responsibilities for the amateur ranks in addition to his supervisory role on the East Coast.

"Track record plays a big part in it," Wade said. "If you look up and down what they've been able to accomplish in Milwaukee, it's an indication they have a system in place that's very strong. That did play a major role in the conversation."

Wade, who will run his first marathon on Sunday in Annapolis, Md., is in the process of hiring one or two people to handle international scouting in Latin American and the Pacific Rim.

"I'm hoping by this time next week or shortly thereafter we will have one or two individuals in place to handle the international side," Wade said.